While promoting labour-intensive industries, the new investment policy of the BJP government in West Bengal will encourage companies to hire more women and transgender people through incentives.The Investment Promotion Policy, 2026, is set to be unveiled by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday.While an eligible MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) will receive 50 per cent reimbursement for male employees of employer’s EPF contribution for eligible employments, in case of women and transgender employees, it will increase to 100 per cent.Similarly, larger units will get such 50 per cent EPF reimbursement upto Rs 10 crore for five years. To receive such reimbursement, the large unit must directly employ 200 people in a priority area and 400 others elsewhere.The government will also give a grant for setting up working women’s hostels in clusters or parks employing more than 100 women.One-stop portal for business easeThe policy also proposes a single window portal for ease of business. “The portal is the principal interface for information, applications, approvals, assistance, grievances and investor aftercare over the life of a project… Every stage of the application, sanction and payment process has a stated timeline and a designated officer.Departments and agencies must record and justify any delay beyond the notified timelines,” an official said.“If the project needs an approval from the Central Government or any other authority outside the state government, the state government will make its best efforts to facilitate that approval,” the official added.Story continues below this adThe government will constitute a State-level Empowered Committee, which will decide whether a project is “strategic” or a mega project, and approve tailor-made benefits, approve higher ceilings, locations, special power subsidy, as well as resolve inter-departmental issues.Focus on R&DThe industrial policy will also encourage research and development support, with an eligible unit receiving 50 per cent investment of its R&D set-up from the government. In the case of a 100 per cent export-oriented unit, the investment support will be 75 per cent, capped at Rs 5 crore.Government support will cover laboratories, pilot facilities, testing, prototyping, product development, intellectual property creation and industry-academia collaboration.State government will also give SGST-linked assistance, Electricity duty, Interest subvention, stamp duty and registration fee, Technology upgradation and infrastructure support.Story continues below this adThrust and Strategic sectorsThe policy has categorised industries into two groups — “thrust” and “strategic” sectors.The ‘Thrust’ sectors will include semiconductors, electronic system design and manufacturing, green hydrogen, waste-to-energy (including compressed biogas), emerging digital technologies, electric vehicles and battery ecosystem, defence manufacturing, shipbuilding and ship-breaking, food and marine products processing, textiles, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical Devices, critical mineral processing, automobile manufacturing, research and development, specialty steel, petrochemicals and aviation (including flying training organisations, heliports).Also Read | Bengal to fill 7,190 panchayat vacancies by April 2027: Suvendu AdhikariThe ‘Strategic’ sectors include electric vehicles, advanced chemistry cell batteries, green hydrogen, specialty steel, defence manufacturing, gems and jewellery, data centres, petrochemicals, PM MITRA Textile Parks, or integrated textile parks of at least 20 acres and multi-modal logistics parks.The policy has a separate category of industries which will not be eligible for any government incentives. They include sponge iron plants and factories, traditional brick kilns, asbestos and asbestos-based manufacturing, single-use plastics and non-recyclable packaging prohibited or restricted by law, charcoal manufacturing, refining of used oil for edible purposes, thermal power units (except eligible captive units and waste-to-energy projects), stone crushing, mineral grinding, and hard or soft coke briquetting (except eligible M-sand and ready-mix concrete units that meet prescribed environmental standards), tobacco and tobacco-based products, coal and coke processing and washing, sawmills and sawing of timber and firecracker units.